Microsoft’s Surface is here, high-tech ad proclaims

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yp49rApQt8

Look what just surfaced on Microsoft Surface team's YouTube channel. This television commercial could be equally confusing to those who deemed the previous Movement ad too childish to begin with and perhaps over-the-top. One thing is certain: Microsoft is determined to make as much noise as possible about this tablet. The company today officially launched Windows 8 and will begin selling the Surface on Friday.

Apple the same day is scheduled to put its iPad mini on sale across 34 countries worldwide. Armchair estimates peg advertising expenditure for Windows 8 and Surface launches anywhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 billion.  I've also included a new making-of video for the Movement ad right below...

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Bad Piggies get 15 new levels in a ‘Flight in the Night’ episodic update

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeGUE__O3w4

Following up on yesterday's Angry Birds Seasons update which has brought out 30 new Halloween-themed levels, Finnish developer Rovio today pushed its first content update to Bad Piggies, its Angry Birds-style game from the piggs' perspective, launched a month ago. The new 'Flight in the Night' episode contains fifteen new levels, a brand new moonlit theme, a new sandbox mode to test your creativity, a new item and more...

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LG Display beats Samsung handily for Apple display orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2012

According to a new supply chain report, LG Display beat its arch-rival Samsung for display panel orders and has now become the primary supplier of screens that Apple uses to build virtually all of its recently refreshed products.

Specifically, LG Display is said to provide panels for the new iPad mini, fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, 13-inch MacBook Pro and both 21.5 and 27-inch revamped iMac models. This is of particular interest to would-be shoppers eyeing the iPad mini because "frustrated suppliers", per one analyst, previously had issues meeting Apple's exacting standards...

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Conan O’Brien on iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJtS8201qNc

Always quick to exploit everything Apple as an inspiration for his late-night talk show, Conan O'Brien took Apple's charming piano commercial for the new iPad mini and made a sort of sarcastic musical out of it, just watch...

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Sprint activates 1.5M iPhones in Q3, same as in June quarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2012

Carrier Sprint, the nation's third-largest, today posted results for the fiscal 2012 third quarter ended September 30. The company reported activating 1.5 million iPhones throughout the quarter, mirroring the iPhone activation numbers from the June quarter.

Sprint continues to be under pressure, reporting a net loss of $767 million, nearly half of the $1.38 billion net loss from the June quarter. Some 40 percent of iPhone activations were new customers, or 900,000 people. Sprint also surpassed one million LTE smartphones sold prior to the launch of iPhone 5...

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Apple posts schematics for the new iPad and iPad mini

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

On Tuesday, Apple introduced a number of new products at a high profile media event in San Jose, California. Among those was the refreshed, fourth generation iPad, and the all new iPad mini.

The two tablets won't be available for another week or so, but last night, Apple posted schematics for them to its website. We've got the fourth gen iPad above, and the iPad mini after the fold...

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Hey Siri, where’s the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 6, 2017

Have you ever found yourself looking for a public Wi-Fi hotspot? Maybe you were nearing your monthly wireless data cap, or were on a laptop or some other non-cellular device.

How'd you go about finding it? Sure there are websites you can look at, and apps that you can download. But if you're looking for an easier way to do this, you can just ask Siri...

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Sprint unveils new no-contract 4G tablet data plans

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

After two years of sitting on the sidelines, Sprint will finally be landing the iPad this fall. Once they become available, the carrier will be offering LTE versions of both the new iPad and the iPad mini.

And it looks like it has some new data plans to go with the new tablets. The company announced last night that starting November 11, it will be offering new 4G tablet data plans starting as low $15...

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Data suggests the iPad lost momentum in Q3

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

CEO Tim Cook shared an interesting milestone during yesterday's iPad mini unveiling: Apple two weeks ago sold its hundred millionth iPad. Now, hundred million of anything is enough to give you a pause, but a quick look at Apple's SEC filings reveals that iPad sales in the September quarter were in fact slowing down. Apple sold a total of 84.12 million iPads when it closed books on the last day of the June quarter.

This means the company since June 30 and through October 9 added about 15.88 million iPads. Don't forget this includes ten additional days of sales outside the September quarter. The figure certainly doesn't compare favorably to June quarter's sales of 17.57 million units. Did Apple release the iPad mini because the iPad was losing its momentum as a portion of would-be shoppers perhaps opted for cheaper tablets from Amazon and Google?

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The iPad mini includes a juiced up adapter for faster charge times, Apple confirms

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 24, 2012

Today, a pair of Apple-branded Lightning-enabled accessories has cropped up on the online Apple store (unofficial ones for half the price are already here). With them came a new iPad charger that now provides twelve watts of power instead of ten watts of power for the previous-generation adapter.

The 12W USB adapter (a $19 value) also replaces the older unit, now removed from the store. It essentially allows users to charge their iPads, iPods and iPhones a bit faster than with the previous adapter...

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Apple wins significant ITC ruling against Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ October 24, 2012

Apple's legal team has suffered some major blows over the past few weeks, in their ongoing battle with Samsung. First, they lost an appeal on a UK ruling that will force the company to publicly state that Samsung did not copy the iPad. And just a few days ago, the USPTO invalidated one of Apple's more significant patents.

But things may be looking up for the Cupertino litigators. According to a new report, an ITC (International Trade Commission) judge has just ruled in Apple's favor in a complaint case against Samsung, a ruling that could see some of its devices blocked from entering US...

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